Content about Food and Beverage

Against a backdrop of increasing competition from cheap imports and rising transport costs, Astral Foods’ CEO Chris Schutte tells Andrew Pelis how South Africa’s leading integrated poultry producer is going from strength to strength.

The story of Astral Foods’ consistent year-on-year growth traces back to its beginnings in 2001 when conglomerate Tiger Brands decided to unbundle its agricultural arm.

China espouses the concept of balance and in this it has a natural partner in Nestlé, a company that is finding its established philosophy of shared value and localisation appreciated in the world’s fastest changing society.

University College Dublin (UCD) has signed a memorandum of understanding with a leading Chinese dairy producer, Dairy United.

The agreement, which is expected to bring about multi-million Euro contracts for products and services, sets out the development of a China-Ireland Agricultural demonstration farm in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, as well as collaborative research projects, the provision of education and training, and collaboration on creating a trade corridor to facilitate the export of Irish products to Inner Mongolia.

Drinks maker William Grant & Sons is investing €35 million into a new distillery in Ireland for the production of Tullamore Dew whiskey.

The new distillery is to be built on a 58-acre site in Tullamore, Co. Offaly. The location of the facility is close to the site where the whiskey was originally made, which closed in 1954. Work on the new site is expected to be completed by the end of 2014.

Taste Holdings manages franchises, developing efficient and customer-focused brands tailored towards South Africa’s discerning diners and consumers of jewellery.

DuPont announced today an extension of its collaboration with the Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics (ACPFG) to improve the productivity of cereal crops.

The expanded program brings a new focus on advanced cereal breeding through molecular markers, discovery research for agronomic traits and hybrid seed production in wheat. 

The collaboration will also continue working toward increasing drought tolerance and decreasing the need for soil-applied nitrogen fertilizer in leading production crops, including corn, soybeans, canola, rice and sorghum.

American “retail treat” brand Dairy Queen opened its 500th franchise in China this week, and plans another hundred before the end of this year.

The 500th DQ restaurant is located in the Hu Dong finance district in Shanghai, and is operated by Shanghai Shida Catering Management Company, which already has more than 350 Dairy Queen sites throughout southern and eastern China.

Coca-Cola today reported Q4 and full year 2011 results meeting or exceeding its long term growth plans across its product range and territorial reach.

"Today, I am pleased to share that The Coca-Cola Company continues its momentum toward realizing our 2020 Vision, with stronger brands, clear strategies and well-focused execution to drive further growth,” said Muhtar Kent, chairman and chief executive officer.

Kenya Meat Commission is determined to resume its leading position in East Africa as a producer of top quality meat cuts and processed products. Julia Smith reports.

Swiss food giant Nestlé has announced a RMB 2.5 billion investment in China’s milk district.

The mayor of Shuangcheng, Mao Chen, and Nestlé’s director of Production Technology for the Greater China Region, Zhan Yudong, have signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly develop modern dairy farming in the milk district.

The aim of the agreement is to ensure the district becomes China’s benchmark for best practice in dairy farming and management, Nestlé said.

Namibia Breweries Ltd (NBL) offers more than a winning portfolio of some of the region’s best-selling beers. Contracts manager Gideon Shilongo explains it is also setting the standard with a range of ground-breaking environmental initiatives.

The Arab Spring has been a time of both excitement and uncertainty for many companies operating in the Middle East. Despite this, Switzerland-based food and confectionary company Nestlé is investing some $160 million into its manufacturing, distribution and skills base in Egypt, and progressing a new initiative to promote nutrition education among children.